Beachfront paradise ‘a magical place’ of beauty and solitude

Having already offloaded their London house, Jeff Chapman and Carena Shankar have now listed their northern Queensland beachfront home for $8m as part of a ‘full reset’.

Alinghi at Agnes Water in Queensland is listed for sale for $8m. Pictures: Supplied

Wealthy investors Jeff Chapman and Carena Shankar have started downsizing their global portfolio of homes.

Having already offloaded their London house in a heartbreaking decision, they have listed their architecturally designed beachfront in the exclusive Queensland coastal township of Agnes Water, about 400km north of Brisbane.

Speaking from Dubai en route to London, Shankar told Mansion that Alinghi, as their Agnes Water beachfront house is known, has just hit the market for more than $8m. The couple developed it after buying the beachfront site overlooking Honeymoon Bay, just north of Bundaberg, in 2003.

Views to the coast abound at Alinghi, Agnes Water. Photo: Supplied

Shankar describes Alinghi as a natural paradise built on one of seven coastal sites in a secure, gated estate. The couple control the Bangarra Family Office, which owns Bennelong Funds Management. It has $13bn worth of assets under management.

They developed the house soon after buying the site. Chapman, a former AFL player, retired from Bangarra in February and stepped back from day-to-day management, but continues to be actively involved and has retained his board position.

The eco home can sleep up to 14 guests.

The Melbourne-based couple, who have investments and businesses around the world and homes in London, the Cotswolds, Sydney, Portsea and Melbourne, have been downsizing their residential portfolio, saying it’s becoming harder to get around.

“We are selling because we are getting old,” Shankar says. “It is with great sadness … we are not 40 any more and can’t zip around, we can’t do that any more, we are doing a full reset.”

The pair recently sold their London house and replaced it with an apartment in the British capital. They have their Portsea abode on the market and have bought a 20ha farm in Merricks on the Mornington Peninsula that is filled with cows and geese and is easy to access from their Melbourne primary home.

One of their favourite homes, Alinghi, which was designed by James Grose of BVN Architects, is on the market through Deborah Cullen and Richard Royle of Forbes Global with an asking price of more than $8m, including its designer furnishings.

Alinghi was designed by James Grose of BVN Architects.

The eco home can sleep up to 14 guests, but Shankar is cognisant of not damaging the house, nor destroying its solitude, by allowing too many guests.

“If you have 12-14 guests it’s too much wear and tear,” she says. “We rent it out to just eight, we changed all the furniture to suit eight to 10 guests maximum.

“It’s a beautiful house, we don’t really like sharing it. We have a lot of people who like to rent it as a couple and they don’t want to share it either. They don’t want to spoil the solitude either.

Arctic cedar clads the exterior of Alinghi.

“A house like that needs to be used and lived in and is maintained to a very high standard. We have a cast of thousands running it.

“Alinghi is very commutable. We normally come from Melbourne, fly into Brisbane, and then fly to Bundaberg. It’s a quick 45 minutes on a little Dash 8 and then we drive to Agnes and that drive is part of the charm of it.”

Although Alinghi does not have its own pool, it is a short buggy ride to the estate’s 30m saltwater pool or to the Honeymoon Bay beach, where there are ­migratory whales and hatching turtles as well as wallabies and echidnas. There’s also a tennis court.

“There are miles of beach on both sides. Everything is so much about nature,” Shankar says.

The house rents out for a minimum of three nights, from $1100- $1500 per night.

Cullen describes Alinghi as a twin pavilion-style home connected by a concrete covered walkway, with shallow reflection pools and a large central stone terrace platform that looks out to panoramic views over the Pacific Ocean.

The main pavilion is designed with large living spaces opening onto a variety of semi-enclosed areas.

Completed in 2008, it has since been named as one of the best coastal homes in the world by British publication Independent UK and has been enjoyed by a special few as a luxury holiday stay.

It is a striking architectural statement in cedar, glass and travertine stone. The main pavilion is designed with large living spaces opening onto a variety of semi-enclosed areas, providing retreat from the wind or for enjoying the wonderful Queensland climate. ​

Design features include external materials, and colours were chosen to disappear over time, fading to a silver grey, blending with the landscape and the silvery bark of the trees. Arctic cedar clads the exterior of the house. Hardy and low maintenance, the timber has faded beautifully with exposure to the Queensland sun.

“It’s one of those magical ­places,” Shankar says. “You land there and you have no shoes on and you hear the crashing of the waves and there’s no person in sight and it’s a beautiful place.”